Fort Smith Residents Question Leaders At Neighborhood Meeting

Questions and concerns ranging from home flooding to trash service were thrown at city leaders during a neighborhood meeting that attracted more than 100 residents Thursday night.

The meeting, designed for residents of Ward 3, was the third of its kind and most well-attended, according to city officials.

“I think it was a big success, a huge turnout,” Ward 3 Director Don Hutchings said of the meeting held at the Fort Smith Senior Activity Center. “There were lots of excellent questions. When citizens ask me questions and give me assignments, I enjoy that. It’s all about serving the people.”

Resident Gary Williamson was pleased with the outlet.

“It’s more one on one rather than going down to city hall,” he said. “You hear people kind of expressing themselves more. They should have more of these.”

One resident asked city leaders why plans are moving forward to widen Jenny Lind Road now that Whirlpool is leaving.

“What we’ve been told by the companies that are marketing Whirlpool properties is that the project is even more important now than it ever has been,” City Administrator Ray Gosack said. “Having better roadway access around the Whirlpool site will help market that site to a new user.”

That project, according to city engineer Matt Meeker, will cost $20 million. The city’s share is $13 million, he said. The rest comes from $7.2 million worth of federal funding.

“Basically, we’re doing street drainage and utility projects along Jenny Lind,” he said. “It’s widening to five lanes. We’re also doing improvements to Ingersoll. It’s widening to three lanes. The project also includes an extension of Ingersoll Avenue from Jenny Lind Road to Highway 71.”

Another resident asked, based on the loss of jobs in Fort Smith over the past five years, how long the city will continue to subsidize convention center operations.

“I hope as long as it takes,” Mayor Sandy Sanders said. “For example, this week, there was something like 1,200 people from the United Methodist convention from several states spending time in Fort Smith. In the evenings they were eating out. The convention center serves as an economic engine in Fort Smith.”

Sanders said that so far this year, Fort Smith Convention Center revenue is up about 25 percent.

“They are working very hard to continue to bring more business into Fort Smith,” he said. “Where that comes in is when they buy meals or buy hotel rooms, when they get their car serviced here, when they buy fuel, those taxes are staying in Fort Smith and helping provide jobs for those people serving them.”

Trash service was also an issue for some residents Thursday. One resident asked if the city saved money when it took over service from Altes Sanitation.

“You’re paying the same rate today you were paying five years ago, but you are getting much better service than you did previously,” Gosack said to a vocal, mixed reaction from the crowd. “When Altes Sanitation served the southern areas of Fort Smith, I got complaints on a weekly basis about the service they were providing. Since the city of Fort Smith Sanitation Department has moved into that area, I get very few complaints from that area about sanitation service.”

Presentations were made by Steve Park, head of the utilities department, Parks Director Mike Alsup, Meeker and Fire Chief Mike Richards.